1. Field Of The Invention
This invention relates to portable containers, and more specifically concerns portable containers which may be attached to a ladder for holding work tools, such as hammers, screwdrivers, caulking guns, and the like.
2. Description Of The Prior Art
In the prior art, attempts have been made to allow a worker who works on a ladder, such as a painter or a siding mechanic, to have his tools and equipment in a convenient place at the top of a ladder so that he does not have to carry his tools with him each time he goes up and down the ladder.
One solution to this problem has been for workers to wear a specially designed leather belt to hold their tools. The leather belt typically includes pockets for holding a hammer, screwdrivers, nails, tape measures, and the like. Such leather belts are usually thick and wide, and weigh the worker down when he moves up and down the ladder with all of his tools in his belt. The leather belt is dangerous, because if the worker falls from the ladder he may be severely injured by falling upon sharp objects such as screwdrivers and knives and heavy objects such as hammers that are in his belt.
Another problem with a leather belt is it usually has no place to hold a caulking gun, which makes the caulking gun one of the most difficult tools to use while on a ladder because there is no convenient place at the top of a ladder to put it when it is not in use. If it is attempted in some way to attach the caulking gun to the worker's leather belt, the size of the caulking gun restricts his movement and can also leak caulking from the tip of the gun onto the worker's clothing.
A particularly dangerous tool to use at the top of a ladder is a blow torch. Painters often use blow torches to remove old layers of paint. When a blow torch is not in use, it is dangerous because it is heavy and may fall and injure someone, and because after use it is hot at the tip, and may easily burn the user.
In recent years, attempts have been made to provide support trays for attachment to a ladder, such as is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,222,541, which discloses a tray secured to the side of a step ladder by a series of brackets that are held together by nuts and bolts.
A problem with these types of containers is that they difficult and time-consuming to install. The installation of the tray shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,222,541 requires that the worker position a first bracket having two studs against the side of the ladder with one hand, and then place a second bracket, which is attached to the tray, through the studs of the first bracket. While holding the assembly in place with one hand, the worker's free hand threads wing nuts onto the bolts. The bolts are then tightened to secure the tray to the ladder. If the worker moves to a different position on the ladder to work, the bracket assembly must be taken apart and reassembled at the new position on the ladder.
Workers in the construction industry, and particularly the painting and siding industries, are often paid by the job, and not by the hour. Therefore, it is of utmost importance that the worker be able to move quickly up and down a ladder as he performs his work, because in that way he makes more money. A worker does not have the time required to constantly disassemble and reassemble a set of brackets held together by nuts and bolts each time he must move to a different position on the ladder.